"Okay, but before I tell you anything, you all have to promise not to tell anyone else what I'm about to say," he said, his tone sounding serious as he glared at them.
The others nodded in agreement, after all, what options do they have here, but still yet, Jonas wasn't satisfied with that, to him; this was his live work for year's, so he wouldn't see it crumble by carelessness or something.
"No….no..no, I wanna here you all say 'i promise' alright! Now can you say it, in the proper way?"
"Seriously dad? Like really" Jerry said, gobsmacked at his dad behavior. 'This man must be kidding me now' he thought as he said, "fine, I promise"
The rest of them also said in unison after jerry "we promise" only mike voice missed the rhythm.
His voice came last, saying "we promise" and that attracted everyone to turned to his direction as if he had said a wrong word.
Perhaps it was because of the way he sounded out lastly and the way mike ascent made it sound. Well, Jonas didn't bother on that he continued his story.
"Alright, the story of this wishing crystal stuff begins in the 16th century, when it was first discovered by some group of explorers," Jonas began, his voice now taking on a storytelling tone.
"Initially, they were told that the crystal had the power to grant any wish, but when they tried to find it, they ran into many challenges, failed so many times. They struggled to interpret the ancient map that led to the crystal," he said, as he drew out a copy of the map to show them from underneath the desk.
He set it plainly on top of the desk trying to prove his explanation and then, he pointed some intricate lines in the map, glaring at them.
"This is it. Although many of them died in the attempt due to mistakes and misinterpretation of the map that led them to the wrong path." He paused for a moment, allowing the information to sink in them.
"All the researchers who came before me, including my own parents, made the same mistake," Jonas said, his voice filled with conviction.
"They all misinterpreted the map that led to the crystal's location. But I was determined to get it right, and after many years of searching…. I finally found and depicted the correct map. And it revealed something that no one had ever known before: the exact location of the wishing crystal." Jerry, Mike, and Serinal listened with rapt attention, hanging on Jonas's every word, because this was serious to them.
But zilia at the other hand, gave no much attention to the information, ever since Jonas was explaining, she was just shaking her head and rolling her eyes in disbelief.
Her skepticism was clear in her voice, she couldn't really wait till Jonas finish his explanation,
'what the hell is he saying? Is he even listening to himself right now? Seriously Magical crystal? Don't tell me this research thing has gone over his head' she thought shaking her head, obviously doubting every word that came out of his mouth.
"wait, wait a minutes. Uncle Jonas, you can't be serious," she said, shaking her head again. "You really believe that there's umm.. a crystal out there that can grant wishes? I mean, that sounds like something out of a fairy tale!"
Jonas smiled, amused by zilia's reaction, certainly, he wasn't expecting her to just believe with just that theory, no one would right?
"I know it sounds crazy, but I'm convinced it's real," he replied, trying to sound more serious.
"It's true, and yeah it does sounds like some fairy tales," Jerry said, his voice filled with excitement, as he tries to back up his dad.
"I've seen the map myself, and it's like nothing I've ever seen before. It shows a path that leads through the Ramazon forest, and then into an unknown forest deep underground. And at the end of that path lies the door to the wishing crystal."
Zilia's eyes went widened in disbelief, but she could tell that Jerry was being serious but….
'Seriously, this is so unbelievable' she thought as she watched Jonas pulled out another map and spread it out on the table.
"Look for yourself," Jonas said, gesturing to the map. His gaze was fixed on Zilia and Lily as he spoke.
"I was planning on going to find this crystal before you two arrived," he said.
"But if you would want to come with me, I would be honored to have your company." He quickly added.
Actually, he said this, not really because he needed them, but because this might be the only way to get this girl's in or to be precisely, to keep them shot from exposing this fact to anyone outside.
There was a moment of silence as Zilia and Lily considered his words. They looked at each other as if they where having the same thought, their eyes where clearly filled with questions. Finally, Zilia spoke.
"What makes you so certain that…this….ummm… wishing crystal is real?" she asked, her voice tinged with skepticism but before Jonas could give an answer to her question, she snapped in.
"You know what, just forget it, I can't.... I'm sorry, but I can't do this," Zilia said, shaking her head. "It's too dangerous, and I have school and my family to think about. I just can't take that kind of risk."
Jerry's shoulders slumped, he knew zilia was going to decline. but he quickly rallied, as he wanted more crew to join the team.
"Zilia, you're one of the smartest person I know, and you're studying to be a detective," he said, his voice filled with determination. He actually said those words because he was trying to enticed her into the expendition, those words never came from his heart.
"You would be an invaluable asset to our team." He tired to sound really convincing, at least, that might help winning Zilia to this business. But unfortunately for him, she was unmoved–it was crystal clear in her face.
"I'm going, no matter what you say," Lily shouted out, as if she had been rehearsing how best she would put the words for it.
Her tone resolute, she clearly know that zilia won't adhere to her decision, even though she won't be going, she would still want to stop her from going.
Zilia looked at her sister in disbelief, as she heard her statement.
"Lily, you can't be serious," she said, her voice tinged with concern. "This is too dangerous. I won't allow it."
Certainly, lily instinct wasn't wrong about zilia kicking against her decision, it had always been like that.
Jonas stepped forward, putting a hand on zilia's shoulder, pretending to be in support of her, of which he clearly knows that, no matter what they where going to say there; lily had already made up her mind.
"I have to agree with zilia," he said, his voice firm. "This is no place for a child."
Actually, he lied, he just said that so as to sound like he was being responsible, but one part of him truly want this kids to join them, in that way, his secret mission would be more secured.
But Lily was undeterred anyway.
"How many wishes can the crystal grant?" she asked, turning to Jonas, trying to shift the persuasion.